www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall eSign Petition Against HHS Mandate on White House Website

REPRINT OF O.P. FROM A CATHOLIC ANSWERS FORUM THREAD


To sign the petition you need to create an account. After you create your account a link will be sent to your email. Click it to activate. It will then take you to the petition to sign.

25k signatures are needed by February 14th! If you do nothing else to fight this mandate, do this!

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petition...their/lBxr7SdP

It has been a rule of thumb that congress does not pay attention to epetitions. Has this changed?

I went back a little bit and compared earlier threads with those of the last month or so. There seems to be an increase in the political fervor and rhetoric. Its not that I am against reflecting on political issues through the lens of Catholic values. On the contrary, maybe such reflection is long overdue! However, I take issue with calls for signing petitions without discussion of the issues in light of Catholic values.

Thoughts? Comments?

Best Wishes,

Bruce

Perhaps I should have used a slightly different subject line, like "ePetition Against HHS Mandate Initiated on White House Website".

I'm generally not a politically-minded individual, and I would not advocate signing a petition for anything unless one is properly knowledgeable of the subject matter and so inclined to do so.

If my O.P. on this subject suggested otherwise, I apologize. My only intent was to make others aware that this had been initiated as one of many means to voice opposition to the administration's stance, as it is a subject of current interest to American Catholics and one the USCCB has taken up quite seriously. We have indeed had some activity on this and other forums related to this matter.

Whether or not the current administration pays attention to this or any other voice in opposition (irrespective of subject matter) is another subject entirely, one that all should consider generally and carefully in accordance with one's own conscience as we prepare to vote later this year.

Again, blessings to all, and sincerely - the intent was to inform, not direct ...

Thanks, Joe; that helped me a lot.

BTW: I did try to use that link and got a message that the link I sought was not found. Is there another dource for information? Could you give a synopsis of what the issue is?

Best Wishes,

Bruce

Bruce,
The link was good yesterday, maybe they took it off --or it's so busy that they can't keep it up. Before you can add your name (first name, last name initial, you have to register (so they can track you down later???...Homeland insecurity, maybe.)

Generally, its a good idea NOT to sign petitions because I found they are used to build mailing lists. However, this is actually a public White House site. The instructions tell us that they have White House personnel (file clerks, probably) look at it only if it has 25,000 signers....I was something like #3880. If they don't have 25,000 they probably just delete it. I would think that if a petition gets over, like 100,000 signers they may have someone higher in rank take a look at it.

The Constitution gives us the right of petition; I suggest everyone take advantage of it, God works in mysterious ways. This is a crisis of historical proportions...the Bishops are willing to be fined and risk the ire of their employees over this. It's similar to the early Christians not bowing to the Emperor or participating in pagan festivals for which we have many martyrs which we still commemorate today.

God be with you,
Fr Deacon Paul Boboige
Pro-Life Office, Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Byzantine)

Try this link.


https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitio...edium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Well, since you asked, I have a few thoughts and comments.

It is every poster's right to create a thread discussing whatever he wishes if it's within the Forum's decency/relevancy bounds. (Admin, please correct me if I'm wrong). It's really not anyone else's right to "take issue" with what someone else posts - and certainly not because it simply expresses a desire to encourage others to participate in what the creator clearly deems to be an important duty of his co-religionists. If you disagree, then you can make your case. Again, that's the beauty of the Forum. But the fact remains that sometimes posters don't want to put up with the charades that can come when other posters make contentious what the creator of the thread clearly believes is not.

So, while I take issue with your initial objection to the content of the first post, I don't take issue with its objective or content myself.

Alexis

Fr. Deacon Paul provided a working link above


This is a fairly well publicized issue. The USCCB has decided to firmly stand in opposition to the government, in protest over the mandate of the national healthcare initiative to purchase health insurance which provides coverage for things which are inconsistent with Catholic moral teachings and philosophy (contraception, sterilization, abortive procedures, etc.).

The bishops maintain that Catholic organizations, as employers, should not be forced to purchase insurance covering these prescriptives and procedures, and suggest it is unconstitutional to do so. In that regard, there are also broader implications for the national healthcare plan associated with the USCCB position.

Archbishop Dolan has spoken out openly on behalf of the USCCB - you may view his video message here: Archbishop Dolan's Message [usccb.org]

The complete USCCB press release can be viewed here: USCCB Press Release on HHS Mandates [usccb.org]

All Catholics in the US are being urged to join their Bishops in voicing their protest. Several of our Eastern Catholic Bishops (including Bishop John - I believe you may be in his Eparchy) have already taken steps to voice their support in opposing these mandates.

The USCCB site has a number of good resources on their website USCCB > Issues and Action > Religious Liberty > Conscience Protection [usccb.org]. For example scroll down to the pdf link to at "There's lots of confusion about what the HHS edict involves. For a quick summary, see our 2-page FAQ called The HHS Mandate for Contraception/Sterilization Coverage: An Attack on Rights of Conscience."

Also USCCB>Media > News Releases > Six Things [usccb.org] Everyone Should Know About The HHS Mandate

Cardinal-designate Archbishop Dolan, President of the USCCB, was on "CBS This Morning" [youtube.com] today. As he continues to make clear, this is not a Catholic, birth control/abortion issue per se. It's a freedom of conscience issue, which many others, besides just Catholics and Orthodox, understand.

The Obama Administration, Democratic Party, and mainstream media's spin won round one. They successfully said the issue is contraception and defeated the Blunt "Religious Liberty" amendment.

So the American policy stands that women's undisputed Constitutional right to free contraception (except for NFP, which they have to totally pay for) is undisputed and the top national priority.

Sorry, I can't help but be sarcastic at this time of the downfall of the American republic.

I can't help but think that the judiciary will agree with this distorted view. The Constitution has become toilet paper.